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After King Soopers stumble, Louisville to re-examine future of vacant Sam's Club site

Plans to install grocer on blighted property fell through last year after Amazon deal

By Anthony Hahn

Staff Writer

Posted:
04/15/2018 09:30:00 AM MDT

Updated:
04/20/2018 09:53:06 AM MDT

The former Sam's Club building in Louisville has sat dormant for nearly a decade. (Matthew Jonas / Staff Photographer)

Louisville will commission a specified market study in the coming months before moving forward on any plans to reanimate the former Sam's Club site, officials say. The 13-acre property has sat dormant for almost a decade in the city's most profitable commercial area.

The decision to embark on a targeted study for the property — one that officials say could cost upwards of $50,000 to conduct over the entire process — comes after plans to overhaul the property with a King Soopers Marketplace were halted shortly after Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods last year.

Officials met earlier this month on potential options for the site, including considerations for changes to the comprehensive and small area plan and incentive packages for retail development, before deciding on a more targeted market study.

City Council is tentatively scheduled to reconvene in the coming months on a request for proposal to send out to consulting groups to conduct the study, officials say.

The study will look more closely at the site itself rather than the entire corridor, according to Louisville Planning and Building Safety Director Rob Zuccaro, who said the hope is that it would lead to some type of zoning or policy changes to help incentivize redevelopment on the long-dormant site.

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An answer to why efforts over the last decade have fallen short has been elusive, officials say.

"One of the whole reasons we're doing this whole study — wanting to go out and get some consulting help, is to answer that exact question," Zuccaro said. "We want to figure out what barriers we may have in our regulations or policies so we can allow market support uses that also meet the community's vision."

A feared loss of 'momentum'

The budget range for the study is between $50,000 to $100,000, though a starting point will likely be around $35,000, according to officials.

Economic Development Director Aaron Dejong said the study would also include engaging a real estate consultant to perform a study on retail trends.

Nearby Longmont has seen high-profile shops such as JC Penney and Walmart eschew the costs of their larger stores.

The property, located at 550 S. McCaslin Blvd. has sat dormant since 2010 when Sam's Club originally shuttered. Ascent Community Church has operated provisionally in part of the space for the last few years but will soon relocate.

Officials suggest that anything that is installed along the property in the future is unlikely to generate the roughly $750,000 in annual revenue that a single large retailer typically yields.

"It's definitely not the highest and best use of the property," Boulder Real Estate Broker Todd Walsh, CCIM said on Wednesday of the site's dormancy. He added that he did not see the demand in Louisville for another grocer or an apparel store like nearby Kohl's filling that site.

The urgency to turn a profit on flailing big box marketplaces has reached an urgency across the country in recent years, and officials have likened the site to a potential economic black hole that some fear could suck the city's most profitable corridor into it.

"I think it's pretty clear that what we have done so far in the last eight years hasn't worked and I am concerned that we are going to lose momentum," Councilman Chris Leh said in a meeting last week. "I'm concerned that we lack a clear strategy, to be honest. I'm frustrated by that.

"What are we as a council willing to do differently before an economic crisis on McCaslin happens? What are we willing to do in advance of Kohl's closing, Lowes closing, Home Depot closing? These are big sales tax generators for us and we are fortunate enough to have them. I don't believe we are going to have them forever, and I worry about that a lot."

'Not our problem'

Rumors have abounded that businesses may already be planning to move shop; at the forefront is talk that the Kohl's next door is planning to relocate in the next few years to Erie's upcoming Nine Mile Corner development.

Kohl's Public Relations Coordinator Michelle Anderson on Wednesday said, "at any given time, Kohl's is reviewing sites in communities nationwide. We do not comment on real estate speculation."

Even without a flow of revenue from the property's potential for a big-box retailer, the district has thrived from a mix of commercial development eager to sprout up next to one of the state's busiest arterials.

Sales tax revenue for the Interchange district — the area encompassing both sides of McCaslin Boulevard up until South Centennial Parkway and West Cherry St. — topped out at about $4.24 million over the course of 2017, a roughly 30 percent increase over the last six years, according to city records.

Citing the fluid retail landscape, Councilman Jay Keany last week said that whatever does redevelop at the Sam's Club site is unlikely to be the big sales tax generator that came before it.

"I think we would be lucky if we got $250,000 from that property in the future with the way things are going," he said.

Centennial Valley Investments LLC and Seminole Land Holdings LLC purchased the site in 2014 for $3.65 million. The property is listed for $9.95 million. Company representatives declined to comment on Wednesday.

An assessor's valuation of the site today is roughly $4.64 million, a 6.24 percent rate of return each year on the property.

"At some level it's not our problem to redevelop a private owner's business," Mayor Bob Muckle said. "And certainly they bear the responsibility with doing what they want with the property."

He added that what happens at that location however is likely to affect the whole corridor, and that the city has a broader interest on its impact.

"I think we need a study that asks for an analysis of what kind of new retail trends could be workable in a committee of our size and density," Muckle added. "That could actually move the ball for us."

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